BATMAN: ELECTION KNIGHT
by MuckrakerBat
Summary: It's election season in Gotham, and citizens are fed up. But while campaign fever sweeps the city, plots are afoot, and a mysterious string of murders - the Uncle Sam killings - have police baffled.
1. ISSUE 1

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a political thriller starring Batman. It's written as thought it were a comic book script with eight issues. It's unclear to me whether this is in violation of 's terms of service - if there are any objections to the format, please let me know and I will revise or post elsewhere. Obviously this has no artwork, so you will have to use your imagination; I tried to describe the pertinent action as best I could.]

BATMAN: THE WAY WITH WAYNE

[A half-page panel, YOUNGER WOMAN, an innocent-looking blonde in her early 20s, with a bruised right cheek, solemnly washes dishes while a TV plays a campaign speech in the background. From her window we can see a Gotham skyline at night.]

Gotham then.

TV CANDIDATE: This is a new day in Gotham. People are fed up with the old ways, the old politics.

[As the TV goes on, she walks to her bathroom.]

[TV CANDIDATE:] I see a way forward from the chaos. I see a phoenix rising from the ashes. I see hope on the horizon.

[She gazes at a bottle of sleeping pills.]

* * *

Gotham now.

[a dead man in a high-rise apartment is lying upright in his bed. He's shirtless, wearing a red ball gag with blue stars on it. A TV in the background, that we can barely see, plays a mayoral debate.]

TV: It's a new dawn in Gotham. The old ways just don't work anymore. People desperately want change. They'll crawl across broken glass just for the chance of it.

[Someone off-panel yanks away the dead body.]

* * *

[We cut to the mayoral debate forum, see that the candidate talking is BRUCE WAYNE.]

BRUCE: My father taught me many things.

He taught me about Gotham. He taught me what it means.

Gotham isn't the poverty. It isn't the empty shipyards and factories. It isn't the corrupt. It isn't the criminal.

Gotham is not Batman.

Who else here is sick of hearing about him? Batman this, Batman that. They use him to divide us, every year. Honestly, who cares? I don't. He's going to do what he's going to do.

He's not Gotham's future. He never was. That's what I'm here to talk about tonight.

MCCASKILL: [A woman in her late thirties, with a dark tan, very blonde hair, wearing a blue pantsuit.] Well, I guess if I entered into an ill-fated business partnership with a vigilante criminal, I wouldn't much want to talk about it. I also wouldn't want to talk about your actual business experience, because there really isn't any.

And I definitely wouldn't want to talk about how the last time you dipped your toe into local politics, it was to support a district attorney who is now a blight on Gotham's good name.

BRUCE: Now see, that's just.-

That's old politics. And you're wrong, by the way. I'm happy to talk about Harvey Dent, who I'm not ashamed to call my friend. He needs to pay for what he's done, but I think what we really should talk about is the help he never got from Arkham Asylum-which was in your district, by the way-

* * *

[COMMISSIONER GORDON and DEPUTY SMITH are in a dump hotel room.

GORDON: You transferred in three years ago, right?

SMITH: Yeah chief.

GORDON: Well...welcome to election season in Gotham.

[a dead body is impaled onto the hotel room wall, naked except for a skin-tight thong with red, white and blue stars on it. His head is dressed up in a large Uncle Sam hat and fake beard, but his right arm is outstretched, with some kind of black liquid oozing from it, while bloody stripes drawn from his stomach make him into the flagpole on a crude, bloody American flag.]

GORDON: He looks familiar.

SMITH: It's Uncle Sam, Jim.

GORDON: Yeah-is there a wallet?

SMITH: Scott James.

GORDON: Yeah, with the city council. Deputy chief of something. ... Find the hotel clerk.

SMITH: Sure.

[After SMITH leaves GORDON watches, standing next to a shadow created by the hotel closet.]

GORDON: Wallet's here, no break-in, and I probably don't need to mention this hotel isn't in the Michelin guide.

[no reply.]

[GORDON turns his head towards the shadow, perplexion seeping through his steely demeanor.]

* * *

[BRUCE and ALFRED are in the kitchen, while a TV shows a re-run of the debate.]

[TV BRUCE: I've been a fighter my whole life. As your mayor I will fight to bring jobs back to the factories and shipyards, the jobs that the bureaucrats let get stolen away-]

BRUCE: It was right here, Alfred. It was right here you said, the city needs Bruce Wayne. My resources, my knowledge. Not my body.

ALFRED: This is absolutely not what I had in mind.

[TV BRUCE: But that's not enough. Gotham has the best universities, the sharpest minds. We need to invest in the knowledge economy, in renewable resources, in medicine-]

BRUCE: Of course not. But this is the juncture we face. The Wayne Foundation, the reforms-all of it is at threat. Firefly has taken out everyone else, there's no one left but Wayne to keep what we started moving. People came to me and they _begged_ , one man cried.

[TV MODERATOR: Let's shift gears for a second. Deputy Mayor McCaskill, you've made fighting crime a centerpiece of your campaign...]

ALFRED: Fifteen years ago, if you'd told me you had an interest in politics I'd have said great. I'd have worked my knuckles to the bone knocking on doors for you. But now, after everything we've been through...nothing good comes of mixing these roles.

There's still time for you to drop out. Your family name-

BRUCE: My family name is a resource. It's a weapon like any other, to be used for a purpose.

ALFRED: It's not a resource like any other. It's not renewable.

[TV MCCASKILL: Gotham is tired of feeling unsafe. It's tired of letting the capes dictate the law to us. It's tired-]

BRUCE: It's not just the reforms. Firefly was part of something bigger, I can tell. All of my sources are dry. I don't know how else to draw it out.

I'm not going to win, it's impossible.

[TV BRUCE: It's a new dawn in Gotham.]

ALFRED: And if you're wrong?

BRUCE: That doesn't sound like such a bad problem to have.

[TV BRUCE: My father taught me many things.]

ALFRED: I've heard this speech before. But the real version.

BRUCE: My father's most important lesson...lying in the street.

ALFRED: Dying for no reason at all.

BRUCE: He taught me...the world only makes sense when you force it to.

ALFRED: And what if Gotham doesn't want to be forced? What do you do then? Mayor?

* * *

[BRUCE is meeting with a GIARDINO, a slightly heavy-set middle-aged man with grey hair wearing a short-sleeve button-down white shirt and tie. They're in a nice oak street-level office building overlooking the Gotham coast, filled with paintings and memorabilia. The office includes an American flag in the corner overhanging, with a unique trim. BRUCE is examining a portrait on the wall.]

BRUCE: Who is that?

GIARDINO: Elbridge Gerry.

BRUCE: No...

GIARDINO: I'm impressed, Wayne.

Third governor of this great state and fifth vice president. Fought to get the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

BRUCE: But mostly known as the inventor of gerrymandering.

GIARDINO: People forget it's literally as old as the Republic.

BRUCE: [Looking at photograph] And that's-

GIARDINO: Me with Jim Keller. Greatest county party chairman in Gotham history.

You didn't run for anything, vote on anything, or hire anyone without talking to him first. People don't realize the glory of it, what was lost. He ran this city ran like a Swiss watch.

BRUCE: It was something.

GIARDINO: That day is gone. You got lies whizzin' around the Internet, getting more attention than any of my ads ever could. Capes flying around gettin' everyone convinced the laws don't matter, and the people who make them don't either. Zero Year and the War wiped out a lot of the old bosses.

But chaos doesn't change human nature. The fundamentals still matter. And I think your campaign could greatly benefit from my support.

BRUCE: You think I need donations? That's adorable.

GIARDINO: It's not just money. You need organization, support, people like mine who understand Gotham at a molecular level.

BRUCE: It's all been taken care of.

GIARDINO: [leans back, smiling] You hate me. It's fine, I'm used to it. You think I hate democracy. But I love it. If it weren't for guys like me, people would have abandoned democracy centuries ago.

Democracy only makes sense when you force it to.

BRUCE: I don't hate you, I actually like you. We both love history. But if I'm not running a different kind of campaign, there's no reason for me to be in it. There's no reason for anyone to vote for me, and they know it. I'm not talking morality here, just strategy.

GIARDINO: You know, you're not the first rich guy to get a sudden interest in civics. You all come in thinking you can just float above it all, like _him_.

People like you are used to picking and choosing your worlds. But if you wanna be mayor of Gotham, you gotta be mayor of Gotham. All of it.

But I do appreciate that you came to see me.

* * *

[BRUCE is in the Batcave with BARBARA and DAMIAN]

BRUCE: We've done the best we can. But now that the campaign season is in full swing, it's clear I'm going to have to pull back.

DAMIAN: This is so insane.

BRUCE: You just keep doing what you're doing.

[To BARBARA] But you'll be taking on most of the Batman's duties. I'll handle contact with Jim.

DAMIAN: Why aren't we calling Blüdhaven?

BRUCE: I'm not going to be going away.

[BRUCE walks further down the Batcave, BARBARA follows him.]

BARBARA: Bruce, I'm not sure about this.

BRUCE: My patrol routes. The sensors, the alarms, the drones. Our pattern recognition and predictive algorithms. You know it all because you built it all.

BARBARA: I know Bruce, and I'm happy to help you from here in the Batcave. But...

BRUCE: I know you can do this. And you promised to follow my plans without question.

BARBARA: What you do every night, what drives you... I'm not you. I don't want to be you. You've got Delta Qui Epsilon over there and any one of them would be happy to do this.

BRUCE: They're birds. Not bats. It has to be you.

BARBARA: We're not the same. You put on the ears to scare people, I put them on to help people.

I mean, this is the 5th-largest city in the world and you know every alleyway by heart. That obsession just isn't in the card for me, I just-

BRUCE: Card?

[We see the Joker card in between them. Neither turn their head to face it.]

BARBARA: Don't go there.

BRUCE: I won't. ... Maybe you should.

[DAMIAN walks up to them.]

DAMIAN: And you don't think people will notice that Batman's pulling back the same time you're running for office?

BRUCE: They won't. Batman is an idea, not a person. Ideas don't go away so easily.

[BRUCE walks out while DAMIAN looks at Two-Face's coin in a glass case.]

DAMIAN: Are you sure?

* * *

[With two assistants, including ED SCHREIN, WAYNE SPEECHWRITER, in tow, WAYNE leaves his towncar next to an elegant downtown building. Walking in, we see that it's a casino-high-end, as casinos go, but still filled with zombie-eyed Gothamites yanking at slot machines with big cups filled with quarters. We can't see the name of the casino. He walks through the lobby to an elevator and presses the top button. He walks into an office, sitting down in front of a desk while conversing with an off-screen voice.]

OFF-SCREEN VOICE: How'd your meeting with Giardino go?

BRUCE: Exactly as expected, Max. Door-to-door, precinct organizing.

OFF-SCREEN: Like we need him. An offer or a threat?

BRUCE: Just an offer. I think.

OFF-SCREEN: So small-time. All of them are. Let them go to McCaskill.

[We reveal who Wayne has been talking to-MAX SHRECK. He's wearing his signature bow tie and pinstripe, old-school suits, but his demeanor is older, gaunter, and more vampiric than as in "Batman Returns." His white hair, still standing up in a fro, is thinner than before. He's sitting as his desk, fingers in a pyramid. Behind him, in a window, we see that this casino was his department store. The store's cat head symbol is lit up with bright casino lights, and we see a bright neon sign as "Shreck's Castle."]

SHRECK: None of them have the balls to go 15 rounds with Muhammad Shreck.


	2. ISSUE 2

[Flashback scene]

[YOUNGER WOMAN is in a hospital room looking somnambulistic. OLDER WOMAN, elegant-looking with long black hair, is looking out the nearby window.]

OLDER WOMAN: Well, you're missing out on some classic October Gotham weather. Nothing but rain for the last week.

[YOUNGER WOMAN is silent, looking ahead.]

OLDER WOMAN: Have they let you know when you're getting out?

YOUNGER WOMAN: Tomorrow, once I've filled out a safety plan.

OLDER WOMAN: You know if you need anything, just call. Any time, anywhere.

YOUNGER WOMAN: I just feel so silly. I...can't explain it. What else are you supposed to do when you suck at life?

OLDER WOMAN: Where are you going to go?

YOUNGER WOMAN: Home.

OLDER WOMAN: Are you sure?

YOUNGER WOMAN: Yes.

* * *

[We cut back to YOUNGER WOMAN's apartment at nighttime, now her BOYFRIEND is home, watching TV with a beer. YOUNGER WOMAN is sitting silently at the kitchen table behind him, staring at the wall, with a glass of wine in front of her.]

[She then grabs her purse and heads out]

BOYFRIEND: What's so important?

[YOUNGER WOMAN doesn't respond]

BOYFRIEND: Don't you turn your back on me!

[BOYFRIEND follows YOUNGER WOMAN to the street.]

BOYFRIEND: Just like that? After everything you put me through? I will find you! I will find you!

[In the last panel, we can just barely make out the glint of Batman's insignia in the dark alley behind BOYFRIEND.]

* * *

[BARBARA is in the Batcave, putting on her costume. We see that she puts on a necklace with one pearl before wearing her costume.]

[The next panel is a flashback from the famous pic of BARBARA paralyzed in "The Killing Joke." The necklace is made out of one of the pearl earrings she wore the night Joker attacked her.]

[BATGIRL then jumps into action. We see her zoom down a Gotham street in her motorcycle, and towards the bay. She stops when she sees a group of police cars, coroner's vans, etc. near the water.]

* * *

[There's a council hearing room. COUNCILMAN TANNER is grilling COMMISSIONER GORDON, who's wearing his dress uniform while testifying. We can see the Gotham skyline in the background, indicating that the council chambers are high up in a building.]

GORDON: As you know, our department is underfunded, overworked, and tasked with keeping safe a city with the world's third-highest crime rate. We do the best we can.

TANNER: I appreciate that, Commissioner, I really do. And I've been arguing for years that we could restructure our budget to give you additional resources at no extra cost to taxpayers.

But Gotham citizens are fed up with excuses. And they're fed up with the continued inability to hold corrupt officials accountable.

GORDON: Um, was that a question? Again, we've turned the entire Firefly matter to the Department of Justice. Until they have finished their investigation, it's inappropriate for me to comment one way or the-

TANNER: My constituents need answers, Commissioner. They need to know how a detective staff of more than 200 completely dropped the ball on a city-wide conspiracy which orchestrated the breakout of a convicted terrorist arsonist and perpetuated a scheme which has so far implicated five sheriff's deputies, seven staffers with the county appraisal office,

[new panel showing WAYNE and SHRECK in the back of the room]

-nine with the city fire inspections board, four members of the insurance oversight board, six city council members

[back to GORDON]

and involved the destruction of 20 city blocks, $200 million in property damage, and 22 deaths.

[back to TANNER]

Quite possibly the biggest insurance scam in the history of this country.

This is a new day in Gotham, Commissioner. Candidates like Bruce Wayne and officials like DA McClintock have shown that the status quo is unacceptable to Gotham's citizens. And so is a police force that continually turns a blind eye to rampant corruption and disorder.

WAYNE: Oversight committee is a hell of a platform for Tanner to launch a campaign for council president. At least in Gotham.

SHRECK: You really started something here. What took you so long?

* * *

[BRUCE returns to his mansion, and sees DAMIAN.]

DAMIAN: I still can't believe it. Shreck. After all we know about him, after Cobblepot.

BRUCE: He got half of the council elected. I either make one deal with him or I make 100 deals with 100 guys like him.

DAMIAN: In this campaign you're still planning on losing?

BRUCE: Respectably lose.

And you know the saying, keep your enemies close.

DAMIAN: But your family closer.

[BRUCE walks down into the Batcave, sees BARBARA at the computer.]

BRUCE: Here's a pro-tip, get sleep during the day. Get blackout blinds.

BARBARA: Believe it or not, hacking is easier now.

BRUCE: What are you hacking?

BARBARA: Boobs.

BRUCE: With the BatComputer?.

BARBARA: They found a floater in Gotham Bay today. A woman, she looked young. I think she had implants.

BRUCE: GCPD knows to look for those.

BARBARA: Yeah, but what if the implant isn't there anymore? The saltwater corrosion caused it to leak. The body decayed, but you could still make out some of the serial numbers that had rubbed off.

BRUCE: You could make them out? In the dark?

BARBARA: I have an eye for detail. It comes with an eidetic memory.

Of course I have no idea which provider made the implant, so it's going to take some time to track this down.

BRUCE: It's just one person, remember that. It could be a suicide, a drunk. This is a city of 30 million people.

BARBARA: I also noticed scars around her ankles, it looked post-mortem. I think someone weighed her down, didn't want her to be found. If she jumped in the Gotham Bay why did it take them so long to find her?

BRUCE: She's still just one person.

BARBARA: So we ignore her.

BRUCE: We patrol a city with the world's third-highest crime rate. We do the best we can.

[As he walks away.]

You're still thinking like Batgirl, not Batman.

BARBARA: [to herself] Maybe because I'm not the g#%&* mned Batman.

[BRUCE walks up to his mansion, and goes to his living room, where he watches the McCaskill speech on TV.]

MCCASKILL: He inherited a business empire which has coasted on its name under his absentee watch. And now he's claiming him and his billionaire friends are going to clean up Gotham for the working man.

Well-Give. Me. A. Break. Once again, we in Gotham are being told to just turn over our rights, our voice, to the rich and powerful-and then everything will be fine.

Unlike my opponent's vague rhetoric, I have a 15-point plan to end corruption in Gotham. Point 1 is to-

* * *

BRUCE is campaigning outside of Arkham Asylum. We can see his campaign posters, with BRUCE pointing dramatically with his index finger, above the campaign slogan-"The Way With Wayne."

BRUCE: Behind me stands a structure-a blight on this city for more than 100 years. A symbol of everything that's wrong with Gotham, and everything that this campaign is about fixing.

Amadeus Arkham would be rolling in his grave if he knew his namesake had turned into a revolving door of psychopaths and terrorists, and the epicenter of this city's system-wide corruption. It is both bloated and underfunded, coddling this city's worst while denying the truly sick from help they need-a true monument to hypocrisy.

It should have been torn down years ago, and in my administration- _it will be_.

[BRUCE joins crowd in a chant]

TEAR DOWN ARKHAM! TEAR DOWN ARKHAM! TEAR DOWN ARKHAM!

[As BRUCE leaves the podium to begin shaking hands, THOMAS walks up to him.]

THOMAS: You know, most of my staff could double their salaries at pharmaceutical or insurance jobs. They choose to stay here. I think they deserve better than what I just saw.

Suppose you tore this place down tomorrow, what difference would it make?

BRUCE: You're right. But something has to change, this cycle can't go on.

THOMAS: You know, everyone thinks that Firefly broke out of Arkham, but it was actually during a transport, no one on my staff has been implicated-

BRUCE: I know. Look, If I went up there and talked about criminal justice and mental health reform, I could go on for three hours and no one would get it. But Arkham Asylum is a symbol for all that, and I _that's_ something they do get.

THOMAS: Well...this city is into symbols.

* * *

[BARBARA is still in the Batcave.]

DAMIAN: So how's your boob search going?

BARBARA: Not nearly as fun as it sounds.

I've got it down to 24 names. None of them are in missing persons, but I've verified that 20 of them are still with us.

That leaves three-Bridget Parker, Carol James, and Meg Fathers.

DAMIAN: He's not going to like how much time you're spending on this.

BARBARA: Yeah, well he told me to follow my instincts.

* * *

[BRUCE is sitting at a table at an office in Shreck's Palace, surrounded by SHRECK, SCHREIN and other advisors.]

BRUCE: I don't see any way that the Batman can help us.

SHRECK: He's popular.

BRUCE: He's radioactive, and he won't get me any votes that I don't already have.

I don't think McCaskill realizes it, but going hard after Batman was a gift to my campaign, we should send her one of my form letters. Let her get stuck in a corner on that, it just gives me more room to plug my corruption message, which is the one that really works.

SCHREIN: And what do you think about him?

BRUCE: I think he's less interesting to voters than the food on their tables, the respect of a job, knowing that their hard-earned tax dollars are going to-

SCHREIN: No, I mean, what do you really think about him?

[BRUCE looks at SCHREIN]

SCHREIN: It matters. It'll help me with my job.

BRUCE: I'm not sure if Gotham will ever be ready to move on from him. But someone needs to show them it can.

[BRUCE and SHRECK walk through the casino on their way to their limo.]

BRUCE: This is quite a place, you know.

SHRECK: Despite your best efforts.

BRUCE: I liked the downtown before they approved gambling.

SHRECK: So did I. Shreck's was a downtown monument. The well-to-do, the working-everyone came down here to buy their presents for Christmas. _That_ was Gotham.

[They hop into their limo.]

SHRECK: But Gotham changes, and so do I.

BRUCE: I've noticed.

[When they round into a bad side of town, suddenly vans surround the limo and men wearing knit caps jump out. One wearing a hat with "GG" stitching-the Gotham Goliaths-uses a crowbar to break open the window and opens the door.]

GG: Come with me.

BRUCE: OK.

GG: You've heard of Scarface, right?

BRUCE: The gangster?

GG: Yeah-just do me a favor and go with it, please.

[GG pushes Wayne into a van, while another hoodlum grabs and pushes Shreck. They push both into stools on one side of the van, while on the other side sits VENTRILOQUIST/SCARFACE, with entourage.]

[While Ventriloquist is a well-known Batman adversary, I don't think it's wrong to presume that in the current canon, the true nature of his identity is not well-known to regular Gotham citizens, despite his incarceration at Arkham. So BRUCE will pretend to be surprised by the puppet in these scenes.]

BRUCE: What the hell...[directed to VENTRILOQUIST] What is this?

SCARFACE: See, that's why you're Wayne, champion of the workin' man. A gillionaire who talks to the help. However, I'm the one that really ought to deserve your full, undivided attention right now.

BRUCE [to SCARFACE]: You're Scarface?

SCARFACE: The one and only. And it's an honor to meet the next mayor of Gotham.

BRUCE: Likewise.

SCARFACE: I appreciate that. I'm guessing you mostly know me from the headlines. Total lies. I'm a civic leader, just like you. And like you, I gottan interest in Gotham's future. This city has so much potential, it just needs the right...conductors.

I've noticed you haven't taken a position on the docks project yet. I think you should strongly consider endorsing it. I think it's a perfect match for your message on Gotham's future.

BRUCE: OK.

SCARFACE: Regardless of how you come down on that, I just want to make sure that the lines of communication are open. That's what this meeting is all about.

[BRUCE and SHRECK are at the side of the road.]

BRUCE: This wasn't really about the docks, was it?

SHRECK: No.

BRUCE: He wanted to show he could get to me.

SHRECK: Want to call the police?

BRUCE: And tell them we were just threatened by Jim Henson?

SHRECK: So what do we do?

BRUCE: What else can we do? Go on like nothing happened.

* * *

[BATGIRL is speeding through Gotham on her motorbike. Suddenly, a large whip forms a ropeline aimed at her neck and rips her off her bike. A dark figure, FURY-a woman with a shaved head, wearing dark leather-uses two whips to grab at both of Batgirl's arms and pull her toward her.]

FURY: You get one warning. Forget James.

BATGIRL: [Still gasping for air]: Yeah, I don't do well with warnings, just ask my boss.

[BATGIRL backs up into a wall, then runs forward, giving her enough room to grab the whips and yank them forward. FURY holds onto them strong enough to be yanked with them, flipping over BATGIRL's head. BATGIRL runs forward to pin down FURY but FURY uses her whips to grab ahold of a fire escape above and jump upward. BATGIRL uses her grappling gun to jump up as well, trying to beat FURY to the top of the building. BATGIRL thinks she has FURY beat but then is knocked down by FURY, already at the roof, falling to a fire escape a level below.]

FURY: He's holding you back, you know. They all do.

[BATGIRL uses batarangs the dislodge the fire escape, knocking it upward towards FURY while it knocks BATGIRL backwards. Unclear if it hit FURY or not but she clearly moved backwards. BATGIRL shoots another grappling hook to get to the roof, and sees FURY nearing the other side.]

BATGIRL: Why James? Who are you?

FURY: You haven't heard of Madam Fury?

You will.

[FURY jumps to the next building, leaving BATGIRL behind.]


	3. ISSUE 3

[Flashback. YOUNGER WOMAN and OLDER WOMAN are sitting at a coffee shop.]

YOUNGER WOMAN: He hasn't been back. It's like all of a sudden, radio silence. No e-mails, texts, anything.

OLDER WOMAN: That's good.

YOUNGER WOMAN: I guess.

I still just...I don't know what to do. I mean, it's been so long since I've been on my own, I don't think I know how to do it anymore.

There's not a day-really, not an hour-when I don't wish I had taken more.

OLDER WOMAN: More what?

YOUNGER WOMAN: More pills.

Must sound so ridiculous to you.

OLDER WOMAN: Don't assume that. I can understand a lot.

YOUNGER WOMAN: Then tell me, what am I supposed to do? Because I can't figure it out.

OLDER WOMAN: You know what I do for a living, right?

YOUNGER WOMAN: Not...I...I think I know.

OLDER WOMAN: So, it works like this. Everyone on this Earth is different. Some women could never imagine doing it, even if they were desperate. Even if they were starving. Others wouldn't think twice about it, and a lot of them will never get the chance to even consider it.

If you're the former, that's the end of it. I'll never pressure you. But you need to think hard about whether or not you're the latter. Because if you are, this is the kind of opportunity life only hands you once or twice. You happen to know me. And, frankly, you're beautiful. And athletic.

There's no reason you should ever feel desperate again.

But that's your choice.

* * *

[At Gotham Police Headquarters]

GORDON: It's time to light it.

SMITH: You sure?

GORDON: You seen these? [Hands him photos that we don't see]

SMITH: Christ.

[GORDON turns on Bat-signal.]

* * *

[Two-page spread. Tweet-like messages consume the page, although we can still see the Bat-signal against the sky. Batman is crashing through the messages on his grappling hook. Space permitting, below are the messages.]

Bat-signal!  
[selfies]  
Oh yeah, it's on!  
God it's so good to see that after the day I've had.  
Such a media creation.  
Seriously, f#%& Batman.  
We doesn't deserve him.  
Yaaas Batman!  
I hope everyone's OK.  
Let me tell you about the time I met him. (1/33)  
For what I pay in taxes is it so much to ask that the police do their damn job? Starting with him.  
If you're poor and on the wrong side of town, watch out!  
Every time I see it I try a little harder.  
For some reason they never blast the Bill of Rights across the sky, I wonder why.  
Maybe he's headed to Finger Field to help the Goliaths score a damn touchdown?  
Oh Christ what now?  
Just a reminder, Gotham PD uses the signal for *crime deterrence use only.* Please subscribe to our push notifications for alerts on specific neighborhoods. Any acts of vigilantism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  
If you see him please email at tips  
They should put Gordon on the $10 bill after he retires.  
Right and wrong. Selflessness. People forget what he stands for.  
I'm not saying the Batman is bad, but Heaven forbid you even QUESTION his actions on here, the fanboys will tear you to shreds.  
Follow BatCatcher0539 for all Batman-related online news.  
If he hurts you or anyone you know, please contact us. We are building our case against the city. #StaySafe  
Don't worry, Mayor Wayne will privatize the Bat-signal and outsource it to the Chinese.  
Shut up.  
Law and order for *almost* everyone.  
Yay, let's throw some more terrorists in Arkham because what they really need is some TLC for a few weeks before they're out again.  
*Crying*  
Seriously, when does he sleep?  
We are all peons next to him.  
#BatFan  
#RealJusticeNotBatJustice  
Has he saved you or your family? No? Well then your opinion on him is garbage. #SorryNotSorry  
Really? Well I was on that bridge and I'm voting for McCaskill.  
So weird, I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for this...bat.  
If you don't understand the Batman you don't understand Gotham.  
How long are we gonna keep buying this show that Gotham PD puts on?  
I still can't believe we put up with this.  
[pic of kids on roof looking at Bat-signal] They always get so excited whenever it's on!  
Reminder: Him and his buddy Riddler almost blew this city straight to hell during the War.  
Click HERE for Batman HATS, SHIRTS and MASKS! **This message has been identified as containing potentially harmful material, do not click on any links or attachments.**  
People in Gotham are such idiots.  
The guy in Metropolis isn't afraid to show his face, that speaks volumes.  
I honestly wasn't sure I'd make it through today, until I saw this.  
Anyone else think it's kind of weird him and the Red Hoods showed up at pretty much the same time?  
He was fighting them you # $^  
Live life with a purpose, because someone else has given up theirs to make sure you can.  
Does it seem like they're turning it on more?  
YESSS!  
Batman is the reason I went to law school, and law school is the reason I can't cheer for him anymore.  
Am I nuts or has he been gone a lot lately?  
You're nuts.  
Ur nuts.  
Your nuts.

* * *

[BATMAN and BATGIRL arrive at the GCPD roof]

GORDON: More Uncle Sam killings, this brings it to five. All city or party officials.

[hands BATMAN photos]

GORDON: If I remember Boy Scouts, this is _not_ an approved use of the American flag.

BATMAN: Any connection in the victims?

GORDON: None that we can find. But we're still going through the financial-

BATMAN: Three of them made consistent $1,000 deposits of cash each week.

GORDON: How could you even possibly know that? Oh whatever. So they were on the take?

BATMAN: And maybe involved in Firefly.

GORDON: None of them were potential witnesses.

BATMAN: There was more to Firefly. That I'm sure of.

[BATMAN and BATGIRL swing away.]

GORDON to SMITH: How the hell'd you miss that?

* * *

[BATMAN and BATGIRL are back in the Batcave.]

BATGIRL: So if this is about bribes and Firefly, why all the flair? Why the Uncle Sam shtick?

BATMAN: A distraction. Disguise mob killings as a serial killer.

Or it could be some kind of vigilante action. Someone who knows the details of Firefly and is sick of the inaction.

BATGIRL: That's good. Still, that's a lot of work to put into a distraction.

BATMAN: We need to talk. About your patrols.

BATGIRL: [angrily] What?

BATMAN: You've done well. But you're still holding back. You got hung up on this Jane Doe while city officials were being systematically murdered. You let this Fury tail and get the jump on you. You have to protect all of Gotham.

You say you're not me. But you put the cowl on. You did it without my instruction, even my knowledge. That cowl means taking everything-the good, the bad, the worst-and channeling it to a single purpose. A righteous purpose.

You must become the night.

Hold on, I'm getting a call on my cell.

[Batman presses something on his helmet.]

BATMAN: It's Tanner.

This is Bruce.

TANNER: Bruce. I need you to come over to my apartment immediately. We have an issue.

BATMAN: I'm on my way.

[to BATGIRL]

You're on.

Be sure to show up after me.

* * *

[BRUCE and TANNER are outside his apartment. Across his door, someone has written "STOP" with S in white, T in blue, O in red, and P in white again. Below it is a bald eagle, with its wings and body impaled and blood leaking down the door.]

TANNER: Uncle Sam is after me.

BATGIRL: [arising from the shadows] Uncle Sam didn't threaten the others. It doesn't fit the pattern.

BRUCE: How the hell did you get here so fast?

BATGIRL: A magician doesn't reveal her secrets now, does she? It'd spoil the show.

[BATGIRL places her hand on the painted message, her mask indicates that she's reading information across her eyes.]

It's Sherwin-Williams, available anywhere. No point trying to trace.

[She begins to carefully remove the bald eagle.]

But this is a bit rarer.

TANNER: I've got a town hall in 36 hours, whoever it is will learn then that I'm not backing down. To hell with them.

BATGIRL: [to TANNER] Call the police. But tell them you found it this way. Unless you want to add a charge of contaminating a crime scene to your campaign platform.

[BATGIRL leaves.]

* * *

[BATGIRL is driving her motorbike down a Gotham street with the eagle encased in some container. She meanwhile communicates with BRUCE.]

BATGIRL: You livin' the nightlife yet?

BRUCE: [unseen] Been partying for 10 minutes already.

BATGIRL: The feds busted an illegal eagle trafficking ring a few years ago, but those were stuffed or bird parts. This thing was alive when they impaled it. Where can you get a live bald eagle on delivery?

BATMAN: [Now on-panel] Forget the analysis. I know where.

* * *

[BATMAN and BATGIRL arrive at the Iceberg Lounge.]

BATMAN: We'll go through the roof.

BATGIRL: Should we wait until it closes?

BATMAN: It never closes.

[as they climb.]

BATGIRL: So you think Penguin is Uncle Sam?

BATMAN: No. He's in Blackgate and we've been monitoring all of his communication. But his operations are continuing in his absence.

BATGIRL: So it's some underling?

BATMAN: Maybe. We'll find out.

[BATMAN and BATGIRL crash through the ceiling into the club, find a large group of clubbers dancing to music in a dimly lit room. They all stop and stare at BATMAN & BATGIRL for a second, then go back to clubbing.]

[BATMAN and BATGIRL both use grappling hooks to jump up into the club's office area-ordinary-looking office room with a few Penguin henchmen hanging out.]

BATGIRL: We can do this the hard way, or the other hard way.

BATMAN and BATGIRL easily defeat Penguin's henchmen with batarangs.]

BATMAN: The illegal birds, who handles them? Who do you sell to?

PENGUIN HENCHMAN #1: You think we keep receipts?

BATMAN: Yeah, I do. Give them to me.

* * *

[BATMAN and BATGIRL are speeding away. It's dawn.]

BATGIRL: This is 30 names. It will take forever to track them down.

BATMAN: Narrow it by crossing off the bird enthusiasts. They've got websites, right?

* * *

[It's night again, indicating the passage of time. BATGIRL and BATMAN are arriving at an apartment building.]

BATGIRL: Believe it or not, this is the only name that didn't show up on some bird-watching site.

Though I still wouldn't rule all of them out. Some of those people are psychos. And they all hate cats, by the way.

[They kick down the door and enter the room. BATMAN sees the GG knit hat.]

BATMAN: This is Scarface.

[BATGIRL puts her hand on a printer, a hologram of blueprints pops up.]

BATGIRL: He just printed this out.

BATMAN: It's the blueprint of Gotham Public Library.

Where Tanner's town hall meeting is happening.

In 25 minutes.

* * *

[BATMAN and BATGIRL burst into the library.]

BATMAN: [looking up] There are at least seven rifles in the building.

BATGIRL: Doesn't he have police protection now?

BATMAN: They can't possibly stop all of them. Find the snipers, now.

[Hits something on his helmet while BATGIRL jumps to the ceiling.]

Jim, there's going to be an attempt on Tanner tonight at the Library. They can overpower your officers.

* * *

[GORDON is in the GCPD office.]

GORDON: SHIT

* * *

BATGIRL: There are multiple snipers here.

GORDON: [to his staff] All available units converge at the library. We've got a 335!

* * *

[BATGIRL is down a hall while communicating with BATMAN, who is running into the library atrium. She bursts into a room and finds that it has a gun, but no gunman or remote.]

BATGIRL: It's empty.

BATMAN: Decoys. [to crowd, TANNER.] Everyone, get out! Now!

BATGIRL: The vents here are too hot, I can't use infrared. I'm going to have to check them all.

* * *

GORDON: [in squad car on walkie-talkie] Deploy choppers!

* * *

BATGIRL: This is the last one, the sniper must be here.

* * *

[We see the police choppers lift off from two different buildings. A rocket launches from somewhere in the street towards one of the choppers.]

* * *

[BATGIRL opens the door to find that the room is also empty, except for a rifle with a Kermit the Frog doll draped over it, as if it were the gunman.]

BATGIRL: What the hell?

* * *

[The rocket hits the choppers blades, sending it spiraling to the ground. Another rocket launches towards the other chopper. BATMAN hears the GCPD radio in his earpiece.]

RADIO: Mayday, mayday! The chopper's been hit!

* * *

BATMAN: Oh God. Get downtown, now!

* * *

[The choppers both spiral downwards towards the same old-fashioned-looking gov't building.]

* * *

[Panel of both BATMAN and BATGIRL speeding thru Gotham.]

BATGIRL: Where downtown?

BATMAN: Towards GCPD!

[After both choppers hit the building, three more hoodlums pop up with rocket launchers and launch multiple rockets towards it, destroying what's left of the building.]

[BATMAN and BATGIRL arrive at the burning building, after the hoodlums have left.]

BATMAN: They knew. They knew GCPD would scramble helicopters.

BATGIRL: What building is this?

BATMAN: County records.

BATGIRL: Huh?

BATMAN: All county prosecutor evidence is held here.

The financial papers showing silent partnerships. The doctored insurance reports. The forensic accounting tracing the bribes. The accelerant samples proving Firefly's involvement.

It's all gone.


	4. ISSUE 4

[Flashback again. YOUNGER WOMAN is now a bit older. She and OLDER WOMAN are in an elegant-looking lounge-type room.]

OLDER WOMAN: I swear, Carol, you're a machine. That councilman asks for you every time.

YOUNGER WOMAN: Suzy, I wanted to talk.

OLDER WOMAN: You're thinking about leaving again.

You're going back to school? You've got quite a head on those shoulders.

YOUNGER WOMAN: No. It's just-I appreciate everything you've done for me. And I enjoy this. I just never meant for it to be a long-term thing, I think maybe it's time for me to move on.

OLDER WOMAN: I said I'd never pressure you, and I'm keeping that promise. It's just-I'm concerned. Three years ago, your life was really a mess.

When you have it good, sometimes it's easy to forget you have it good.

YOUNGER WOMAN: That's the thing, I just don't know. I feel like I haven't lived enough life yet to be sure.

OLDER WOMAN: But what if you find out that you were always meant to be here? And you know the rules, once you're out-

YOUNGER WOMAN: I know.

OLDER WOMAN: There's this whole world out there, that's out of control. That can hurt people. But this here, this room, is my domain. I have control here. _Some_ control.

Just promise me you'll think it over. And we can discuss you getting a bigger cut, you've definitely earned it.

* * *

[BRUCE is at a campaign rally somewhere downtown.]

BRUCE: Is anyone surprised that this happened?

Is anyone surprised that the Firefly perpetrators may never be identified or brought to justice?

The only thing more disgusting than what happened last night is how utterly predictable it was.

My opponent says I'm inexperienced, that I won't know how to run the city government. Well, let me ask her this-what good is experience in a government _this_ dysfunctional? I'm proud that I don't have experience in a bureaucracy that fails to deliver even a illusion of justice to its citizens, that fails-time and again-to protect them from Gotham's worst.

People don't just want change. Change is necessary.

* * *

[BRUCE is back at his mansion.]

DAMIAN: That was a hell of a speech.

BRUCE: Thanks.

DAMIAN: It's almost like you wanted county records to get destroyed.

BRUCE: [silence]

DAMIAN: I'm just trying to get some clarification on our roles. You've got us scouring the city for info on Firefly, are we doing crime-fighting or campaign oppo?

BRUCE: I know my mission. If you don't, maybe it's time we reconsider your job.

DAMIAN: How can you be sure? You had Batgirl chasing a puppet while you let Scarface destroy evidence for maybe the most important public corruption case in Gotham history.

You used to tell me that being Robin was about remembering my purpose, that would give me the edge I need. Are you sure you remember yours?

BRUCE: I don't need to answer to you. I know what I'm doing.

* * *

[BRUCE is meeting with GORDON in his office. There's clearly some tension and irony in this.]

GORDON: Wayne - I've known you for a long time. But I didn't realize you had this in you.

BRUCE: I thought my ego was legendary.

GORDON: Only to those who don't really know you.

Per department policy, I can't make any endorsements. But I'm happy to provide any information I can, to any candidate.

[Walking down GCPD corridor]

BRUCE: Of course. Your life's been busy lately, I expect.

GORDON: I haven't slept in 62 hours.

BRUCE: Jesus, Jim, how did this happen? I don't just mean county records. A $200 million insurance scam under your nose?

GORDON: Off the record, Wayne?

BRUCE: Sure, whatever.

GORDON: I can deal with corrupt. But there's no fixing stupid.

I got a boatload of incompetents I can't fire, and insurance fraud is where a lot of them end up. You wanna help me? Let me hire at-will.

BRUCE: Doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'm meeting with Jim Roaner at the Benevolent Association after you, I'll bring it up.

GORDON: Yeah, good luck with that. Anyways, this is our vigilante unit...

* * *

[BRUCE is now meeting with ROANER, a young black man in a disorganized police office.]

ROANER: Your buddy, the councilman, has been awful tough on us. I've noticed that you've held back, though.

BRUCE: Well don't start a fight you can't finish, that's what my father taught me.

ROANER: And you've touched, but not exactly hit, the docks project.

BRUCE: That hardly seems like a police matter.

ROANER: No, it's not. But as chairman of the Gotham Policemen's Benevolent Association, it's my fiduciary duty to oversee the investments of our various pension funds.

BRUCE: And those funds...

ROANER: Among our many investments are certain real estate trusts which, yes, are involved in the project. I believe it is in the best interest of our association, and for the city, that the Gotham County Parks Department Docks Development go through.

BRUCE: Those docks used to be the heartbeat of America. The first exported American car-a Ford-left that harbor. It can still be so much more than some mixed-use housing for bureaucrats.

ROANER: Nobody in their right mind wants to ship their stuff through Gotham!

Half of the current traffic there is betting on insurance payouts, and now Firefly's killed that.

BRUCE: So what, we just give up? Admit the city is lost?

ROANER: No, I don't know-we recognize reality and try to make the best of it. That's what leaders do.

BRUCE: That's not what I do.

ROANER: So a project that could actually do some good gets mothballed so you can sell some fantasy about shipyards to voters?

BRUCE: Good for Gotham or good for your fund?

ROANER: I don't know how to say it more directly-I view the docks project as highly important to both the future of Gotham and the health of the Benevolent Association, and I will consider this issue when deciding who our organization will endorse.

BRUCE: Well, I do appreciate the direct approach.

* * *

BRUCE is outside GCPD headquarters, discussing with SHRECK.

BRUCE: I don't like threats, Max.

SHRECK: That wasn't a threat. That was a gift. The Benevolent endorsement is there for you to take it.

Don't you see it? Rank and file policemen standing behind the billionaire fighting corruption? You'd be unstoppable.

BRUCE: I didn't think that was the kind of campaign we were trying to do.

SHRECK: I thought a winning campaign was what we were trying to do. And you can do it without changing your message. You just need to broaden it a bit.

* * *

[TANNER is leaving the city council building, with a five-member police entourage.

But as he heads towards his car, each member is suddenly picked off by whips.]

* * *

[GORDON is at his desk at GCPD, looking utterly exhausted. He picks up his phone.]

GORDON: For Chrissakes.

* * *

[TANNER is strung up, dead, spread eagled, on one side of a Gotham alleyway. Someone has dressed him in a highly sexualized red/white/blue Wonder Woman costume. Above him, in red paint, is written "PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO MADAM FURY."

GORDON, BATMAN and BATGIRL are watching.]

BATGIRL: So...

BATMAN: I've gotta go.

* * *

[It's a dark parking garage somewhere, KATE, a young, professional-looking woman appears to be by herself.]

OFFSCREEN VOICE: Here are the scripts for three Wayne campaign commercials blasting the docks project. They were all cancelled, you'll never see them on TV. All written before the Benevolent Association announced its intention to endorse Wayne.

KATE: My Northwestern ethics class did _not_ cover this situation.

[reveals OFFSCREEN VOICE to be BATMAN]

BATMAN: What, protecting sources?

KATE: When they're whistleblowers, now when they're criminal...bats.

BATMAN: Fine. You can write a story about meeting the Batman in a garage or you can write a story about how the most powerful man in Gotham got bought off by a $130 million county parks project.

KATE: I see your point.

BATMAN: The Benevolent Association interests-

KATE: All public record, we have them. I did go to Northwestern.

BATMAN: OK.

[Awkward silence]

KATE: Oh sorry-am I supposed to turn my head and then you-

BATMAN: Yeah.

[as he flies away]

BATMAN: You'll get the drill.


	5. ISSUE 5

[Flashback]

[YOUNGER WOMAN and OLDER WOMAN are in the same expensive, high-end looking lounge, with men and sexily dressed women about. OLDER WOMAN is accompanying a young man in a suit.]

OLDER WOMAN: No money. Not here. That's not how it works. You're a friend, we treat our friends well here.

[They walk to YOUNGER WOMAN, who is sitting on a sofa, looking very sexy.]

OLDER WOMAN: This is Vanessa, she is one of our most highly recommended girls. I promise you, no night with her is every forgotten.

MAN: She's...gorgeous.

But I was kind of hoping for the, um, extra special special treatment?

OLDER WOMAN: Very well then. Right this way.

[They walk up stairs]

MAN: Thanks, uh, maam.

OLDER WOMAN: Excuse me, that's madam.

[As they reach the top of the stairs, OLDER WOMAN locks his head between the handles of two whips and forces him into a kneeling position. Behind her, we see that this is a fully equipped bondage room.]

OLDER WOMAN: And _you_ will pledge allegiance to Madam Fury!

* * *

[BRUCE is on a TV screen, railing from a podium.]

BRUCE: Complete and utter fake news. Do you need any more proof that I'm threatening the power structure of Gotham? They are so desperate they're trying to push this phony, trumped-up charge, this _complete nonsense_ -

[BATMAN, scowling, watches his batcave monitor. The page is once again filled with tweet-like messages. I'm envisioning this as a splash page, although if it can fill a two-page spread that might work too. The messages are as follows:]

Candidate Wayne Implicated In Docks Sweetheart Deal [link]  
Gazette: Wayne Traded Policemen's Endorsement For Docks Deal [link]  
McCaskill Lead Widens Following Wayne Quid Pro Quo Revelations  
Why do I ever let Gotham get my hopes up?  
So it turns out Gotham politicians are Gotham politicians? I'm so shocked.  
Another rich white man thinks rules apply to everyone but him.  
LOL those docks are a dump.  
So he plays the political game, so what? He's still cleaner than all the rest of them.  
Here in Gotham we've got kind of a low threshold for our heroes.  
Seriously, # %$ Wayne  
This must be some mistake, there's no way Wayne would do that.  
I know everyone on here is so cynical but I really thought Wayne was different.  
In Gotham if the papers are after you, you must be doing something right.  
I don't care what he does to get elected, Wayne still has the best message.  
What have I been knocking on doors for? I missed my daughter's recital!  
Just canceled my Gazette subscription.  
They sell all of our jobs down the river, sometimes literally.  
So I'm supposed to believe that *McCaskill* is the honest one in this race?  
Click here for your latest Gotham Mayor campaign news. ***This message has been identified as containing potentially harmful material, do not click on any links or attachments.***  
Ugh, I think I'm just going to stay away from political news today.

* * *

SHRECK, ROANER and GIARDINO are talking outside GCPD.

ROANER: I'm getting calls at my home. My wife is getting calls at work.

SHRECK: This is a storm, we can weather it.

ROANER: Tell that to my sobbing kids!

I'm sorry, I can't endorse Wayne. I can't get within 10,000 miles of him now. I'm not one of you guys, I need this job!

SHRECK: [To GIARDINO as ROANER walks away] You gettin' frozen feet too?

GIARDINO: No, man, I got first-class tickets on this cruise and I'm on till it hits the Atlantic floor.

* * *

[Back in the Batcave, BRUCE is still watching the monitor. BATGIRL arrives.]

BATGIRL: [in a rage] We need to talk about your patrols!

[BRUCE turns around in his chair to face her.]

BATGIRL: I don't know who Madam Fury is or why she's picking off city officials. But it has something to do with Carol James.

You told me to ignore James. You said it was my duty.

BRUCE: You got lucky.

BATGIRL: So what? I'm tired of letting the John and Jane Does just disappear. I don't care if it's in the greater good or not.

BRUCE: The greater good is your mission! You would understand that if you listened to me about what it means to be a bat.

BATGIRL: I still don't care! This is what I have to offer. If that's not good enough, fine, I'll go home and do my homework.

BRUCE: You have more to offer.

BATGIRL: You know, you keep telling me to use what happened four years ago. To channel it.

You've got all of our AI software analyzing Joker's personality. You've spent how many hours researching every little bit of his background.

But really, I know him better than you ever will. And I have precisely one thought about the Joker.

#*%& him.

I don't judge you, Bruce, and what gets you out there every night. You save people. Saved me. But I am not you. I wasn't before that creep and I'm not after.

I can't control what he does, and I can't control the world. What I can do is accept that.

Joker has perfectly fine accomodations at Arkham. He doesn't need to live rent-free in my head.

I put on this cowl because of what it means to me, Bruce. And whether you like it or not, that symbol doesn't belong to you anymore. You gave up that right when you blasted it across the sky. It belongs to everyone, and to me it means hope. It means that everyone has the capacity to do good.

I wear that bat not because I need to, but because I want to. And what gets me out there every night is…

I love it.

[BATGIRL throws her pearl necklace across the side of the Batcave, into the bottomless cave below]

* * *

[ROANER opens his house door. Two men wearing spherical masks shaped like Shreck's cat are standing outside.]

CAT #1: We need to talk to you.

CAT #2: About your endorsement.

* * *

[BRUCE gears up while talking on his helmet earphone to SHRECK.]

SHRECK: From one billionaire to another, you really don't want to miss this donor meeting, Bruce.

BRUCE: I'm out for the next 24 hours. Talk to Schrein about clearing my schedule.

[Puts on Batsuit, grimly.]

[ROANER is now dead, fully clothed, impaled on an American flag at his house's front door. BATGIRL and GORDON watch.]

GORDON: I'm not even surprised anymore.

[to BATGIRL] Do you talk?

BATGIRL: No [flies away.]

* * *

[BATMAN walks up to a Gotham skyscraper, uses a grappling hook to fly up on its side, busts into a room. We see the lounge we've seen before with OLDER WOMAN/FURY.]

BATMAN: FURY!

FURY: [off-panel] You finally figured it out.

BATMAN: This will end. Tonight.

FURY: This will never end.

[BATMAN and FURY circle around the lounge while talking.]

BATMAN: I heard the rumors about this place.

City Secrets. An elite escort service for Gotham's top officials. No questions asked, no records.

But it was another lie. The mob, the bosses, used you to keep tabs on city leaders. Blackmail when needed.

Secrets on secrets.

FURY: And what do you know about me?

BATMAN: Enough. Suzanne Johnson, born in Burnside, went to St. Follower's. Scholarship to Metropolis State on gymnastics, after graduating started dancing at Masks, which I guess lead you here.

FURY: So I'm not the starving hooker with the heart of gold? If that was the only way you'd respect me, that's not really respect at all.

BATMAN: I don't care that you became a prostitute and madam. I care that you became a murderer.

FURY: I thought the Batman fought to uphold all the laws? Sounds like you really want to make them. Well, don't we all.

BATMAN: But this is really all about a 24-year-old from Gotham Heights named Carol James.

FURY: [silence]

BATMAN: That was the one part I couldn't figure out. Why kill her? Why cover it up?

But I was an idiot-you didn't kill her. She was one of you.

FURY: Do you know how many of my girls have just disappeared, over the years? No missing person reports, no investigations, just gone?

24\. 24 women.

No one asked. No one cared.

BATMAN: I care.

FURY: Well I've never seen you before.

BATMAN: This city has 30 million people.

FURY: A dead councilman sure got your attention.

BATMAN: And it was him, wasn't it?

FURY: He had such particular tastes. Most of the clients, they love to sample. With him, it was always her. Always.

BATMAN: He defied the powers that be by pushing hard on Firefly. And then he ran for council president. It was only a matter of time before they used her against him.

FURY: She knew all his secrets. So many secrets. She was expendable. He couldn't have any loose ends.

And the worst part is, she wanted out. I talked her out of it.

I'm complicit. And with the others, by my silence. This is my shame.

BATMAN: And she was the last straw. For you. The Uncle Sam killings-they were all for revenge.

FURY: Of course the papers thought it was some man.

We're awfully alike, really.

BATMAN: I don't do this for revenge.

FURY: No, it's something darker. Revenge at least ends.

But we've both been spinning our wheels. Taking out one victim after another, thinking it somehow matters.

It's not enough. None of it is enough.

It's not just the state senator who beats one of my girls to death because she asked about his wife. And it's not just the coroner's deputy who marks it as accidental. Or the detective who buries the report. It's everything. It's everyone. It's the whole system.

The mob's muscle is gone. The enforcers who used to keep us in line, they're all gone. It's time for the equilibrium to shift.

We will bring this whole structure crashing down. The police, the courts. Mayor Anderson. Gordon. McClintock. Wayne. McCaskill. Tonight, they go down.

I will break this city's bones and suck out its rotten marrow.

It's the only way to make things right.

Join me.

BATMAN: I will stop you.

FURY: You can't.

[She jumps out of the room, BATMAN looks for her and can't find her.]

BATMAN: [as he jumps down the side of the building] BG, come in.

BATGIRL: [on the communicator] So you're saying this brothel is Uncle Sam, and they're about to strike out on all the city leaders tonight?

BATMAN: She's an expert gymnast who spent 10 years dancing at Masks and at least 7 years as a dominatrix. She handpicked and trained all of City Secrets' women, who've killed nine people so far.

This isn't a brothel. It's an army.


	6. ISSUE 6

[BATMAN is listening through his radio while speeding thru Gotham in the Batmobile.]

BATGIRL: [on radio] So we're supposed to call my dad and tell him all the city figures are under threat from a gang of dominatrixe-is it dominatrixes? Dominatrixii?

BATMAN: Dominatrices.

BATGIRL: I don't even want to know.

BATMAN: I pushed the panic button. But it may be too late.

Damian, find the mayor. BG, McCaskill. I'm on my way to Gordon's.

DAMIAN: What about Wayne Manor?

BATMAN: Alfred's on it.

BATGIRL: I'll take Gordon.

BATMAN: Look-

BATGIRL: I'll take Gordon.

BATMAN: Fine. McCaskill is still working at City Hall, converge there once we've secured the other targets.

Damian, tell me when you get to the mayor's mans-

* * *

[DAMIAN is in an elegant-looking bedroom]

DAMIAN: I'm already here.

I was too late.

[MAYOR ANDERSON is dead, strung up on his bed, arm's strapped to each bedpost, red-white-blue firecrackers shoved into his mouth.]

* * *

BATMAN: BG, report in when you can.

[on the phone in his helmet]

This is Batman. Amy, where are you? ... Get out of the building, now! Your life is under threat.

* * *

[BATMAN arrives at the City Administration building, uses grappling hook to fly up the side of the building.]

BATMAN: She's on floor 7.

[He crashes through the window burst into the dark council chambers room. MCCASKILL is at the center, seemingly alone.]

MCCASKILL: What is going on?

BATMAN: [Still, evaluating situation.]

Don't move.

FURY: [off-panel] Bad advice.

[Women rappel from the ceiling to surround MCCASKILL]

BATMAN: ARRRGGHH! [He tackles one woman while using a batarang to subdue another and uses a grappling hook to knock a third off her feet.]

* * *

BATGIRL busts into her father's home. Silently, she runs through to the kitchen, to find that Gordon has subdued and restrained two of FURY's women, holding one at gunpoint with a shotgun.]

GORDON: I don't know who these girls are, but at least they brought their own handcuffs.

* * *

[BATMAN is fighting his way to McCaskill. While he is punching one of FURY's women, a whip wraps around his wrist as he pulls back. He rips his hand forward, flipping the whip over, but another FURY gang member grabs it and pulls his arm down. He uses his other hand to knock the first woman unconscious but is slowly being bound by FURY's gang.

Meanwhile, gang members have trapped MCCASKILL with whips and are laying her out on a table.

FURY GANG MEMBER 1: Get her wrists!

* * *

Police arrive at the City Administration lobby, but some of FURY's women topple a giant stone Lady Justice statue inside the lobby, blocking the doors.]

DEPUTY SMITH: We can't get in, hostages are on the 7th Floor. Gonna have to deploy choppers.

Think we can keep them in the air this time?

* * *

BATMAN is finally subdued. FURY approaches MCCASKILL and uses her two whips to wrap around her neck.]

FURY: Where were you, sister?

[FURY throws her whips to two other gang members who keep them tight around MCCASKILL's throat. FURY pulls out a switchblade.]

FURY: They say there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.

[FURY lowers face to MCCASKILL.]

FURY: But what part of hell could be worse than here?

This is mercy. Sister.

BATGIRL: [From the spectator gallery, a balcony above them.] Hey Fury!

[BATGIRL holds some sort of starter switch in her hand.]

Pledge allegiance to this.

[BATGIRL presses the button which sets off charges around them all. The entire floor has been rigged to collapse. All of Fury's women are caught off-guard and tumble to the next floor. BATMAN grabs two of the whips being used to restrain him, uses one to wrap around the balcony and stop himself from falling, uses the other to save MCCASKILL. The women are mostly knocked unconscious, BATGIRL jumps down to restrain FURY.]

[She then jumps up to join BATMAN and MCCASKILL. BATMAN is helping untangle MCCASKILL]

MCCASKILL: You rigged city hall with explosives?!

BATGIRL: All over the city, just in case someday. I thought he was nuts.

BATMAN: Glad I can finally say I told you so.

MCCASKILL: And who the hell are they?

BATGIRL: A gang of elite prostitutes lead by a legendary dominatrix.

BATMAN: They're the Uncle Sam murderers. The killings were for revenge.

MCCASKILL: OK, I'll pretend that all just made sense.

BATMAN: [to BATGIRL] There are other targets. Go now. Keep comms open.

[BATGIRL flies away.]

BATMAN: [On his comms] AP, come in.

* * *

[Cut to ALFRED, looking out from a high floor on Wayne manor. In the yards, all of FURY's women are lying unconscious.]

ALFRED: Our defense systems worked flawlessly. They'll wake up in 24 hours remembering nothing.

* * *

BATMAN: Very well.

MCCASKILL: If they went after me they'll go after Anderson.

BATMAN: Anderson's dead.

Your mayoral term will begin early.

MCCASKILL: Yeah, it's going to be the shortest term in Gotham history.

BATMAN: I don't think so.

Follow through on your platform.

MCCASKILL: That includes arresting you!

[BATMAN looks down, sees that FURY has gotten away. Before he jumps to look for her, he turns his head.]

BATMAN: Who are you going to appoint to replace Tanner?

MCCASKILL: [close-up] Oh, I think you'll like the names I've got in mind.

[BATMAN jumps to the lower level, to find that FURY is leaping out a window. He follows her, finding that she has gotten to the roof of the city administration building, which has a giant statue of one of Gotham's colonialist founding fathers. It's dark, raining, and police helicopters swirl nearby.]

BATMAN: Fury, it's over.

FURY: That was impressive.

BATMAN: No one else needs to get hurt.

FURY: You know, I used to think I was helping them. All these men with such responsibilities and pressures. Every night, I used to be so proud. Such a fool.

What do you think you're fighting for!? This system that tortures and kills the unfavored?

BATMAN: No. For justice.

Justice is the only tool that can protect the weak from the powerful. Even when it's just an ideal. Even when it's just a hope.

FURY: Where was your justice? Your justice is a joke. Force is the only tool that counts in this life.

[Through tears.] They were people! They had dreams, they had flaws. They mattered! I just want to hear someone say that!

BATMAN: They matter.

FURY: So what, you have all the answers?

BATMAN: I don't.

FURY: They mattered. [She collapses into sobs on the ground.]

[BATMAN places his hand on her shoulder.]


	7. ISSUE 7

[BATMAN and BATGIRL are back in the Batcave.]

BATGIRL: So let me get this straight. You actually want her to go to Arkham?

BATMAN: It's not up to me.

BATGIRL: She killed 13 people!

BATMAN: 12.

BATGIRL: Huh?

BATMAN: Roaner wasn't in any of the Secrets ledgers Fury gave me.

[Puts ROANER murder scene on the screen]

BATGIRL: That doesn't mean anything.

BATMAN: The Wonder Woman costume, being stripped naked, the ball gag...the point was sexual humiliation.

BATGIRL: I could go the rest of my life without hearing you say "ball gag" again.

BRUCE: That element was kept out of the media. And Roaner's murder doesn't fit the pattern.

Because whoever did it didn't know that a dominatrix was behind the other killings.

BATGIRL: So who did it?

Before I had a hunch that Shreck might be Uncle Sam, you're his meal ticket and getting rid of Roaner frees up his organization to endorse you.

BATMAN: It wasn't Shreck. Trust me. That's not his style.

BATGIRL: So who?

BATMAN: [close-up] I've seen that flag before.

* * *

[BATMAN is casing a nondescript Gotham office-building. We see GIARDINO step out, gets into a normal car. BATMAN follows him quietly in the shadows, using his grappling hook.]

[GIARDINO arrives at a warehouse. BATMAN waits a bit before following him.]

[BATMAN enters. Four hoodlums jump him as he enters. BATMAN fights them off, one at a time, but as he's just got them out of the way a gunshot from an unseen gun hits him in the shoulder. He briefly falls back, which is enough for the hoodlums to forcefully subdue him, grabbing him by the arms to force him to look ahead.]

[BATMAN sees SCARFACE, w/a gun-wielding henchman, along with GIARDINO.]

SCARFACE: We were wonderin' when you might join us.

[From the Batcave]

ALFRED: [rushing to get to the Batcave computer] I'm calling the calvary.

BATMAN: No! Hold on!

SCARFACE: You heard 'im, hold on! I want him to hear this, anyways.

ALFRED: Yes, sir. I'll stay with you.

BATMAN: What are you up to? What is this about?

GIARDINO: It's about homeostasis. It's about equilibrium. It's about the natural order.

And what is it ever about? We're gonna control Gotham.

BATMAN: Why Roaner? How does killing him help you defeat Wayne?

GIARDINO: Defeat Wayne? Who said we wanted to do that?

SCARFACE: We're his giggest fans!

Why else do you think I hit county records?

BATMAN: It wasn't Firefly?

SCARFACE: If that idiot McClintock could touch me...I've got people so far up in his office I get a text every time he wipes his ass.

I destroyed records cause I knew if I threw him that straight pitch Wayne'd hit it.

And he sent it sailing over the stands.

BATMAN: Why?

GIARDINO: Because the only thing better than beating a self-righteous prick like Wayne...is controlling him once he's in office.

SCARFACE: You know how City Secrets got started? I know you're a history guff.

GIARDINO: It was a partnership. The Pact, they called it. You heard the rumors.

BATMAN: Back in the day-the major Gotham power centers.

GIARDINO: All working together, all sharing the spoils. But do you know who was involved?

The mob. GCPD. The judges. City hall. Sewage and sanitation. International Gotham Laborers. The Owls-or at least, they condoned it.

And, last but not least, Gotham Central Hospital.

[ALFRED watches the Batcave screen solemnly. Then he closes his eyes.]

GIARDINO: Could give soldiers question-free operations, produce insurance reports with no trace, had a boatload of bureaucratic no-show jobs.

And, at the time, was directed by one Thomas M. Wayne.

[BATMAN stares.]

SCARFACE: MD.

GIARDINO: You think this is just some story? Well-

SCARFACE: A picture is worth a thousand woids.

[From an elegant wooden box, GIARDINO produces photo with Thomas Wayne at a meeting of what appears to be Gotham's elite and powerful, including mob bosses.]

SCARFACE: Look at your face, Bats. You really swallowed all that Wayne is the future jazz, didn't you? World's greatest detective, eh?

When are you gonna learn? Some hero ain't gonna save Gotham!


	8. ISSUE 8

[Flashback]

THOMAS WAYNE: [arriving home] Martha, where's Alfred?

MARTHA: [offscreen] I sent him to the market, I was going to make steaks tonight.

[8-year-old Bruce confronts his father as he comes up the Wayne mansion stairs.]

BRUCE: Daddy, daddy, look! I finished it. [Shows model ship.]

THOMAS: That's great, Bruce, I-[looks into his office]-What?!

[THOMAS's office has drawers open, with items & papers strewn all about.]

THOMAS: Goddammit, Bruce!

BRUCE: I, uh-I just needed some tape, daddy.

THOMAS: How many times I have I told you! Stay out of my office!

Clearly, talk isn't enough for you. But I'll tell you want I'm going to do!

[He grabs ship]

Maybe now you'll remember!

BRUCE: No!

[THOMAS throws the ship against the wall.]

* * *

[Still flashback. Bruce is glaring at his uneaten dinner]

MARTHA: [to THOMAS] This is the sixth night in a row.

This is ridiculous.

THOMAS: Bruce, go to your room.

[to MARTHA] I'll talk to him.

[THOMAS goes up to BRUCE's bedroom, where he's sitting on his bed, still glaring.]

THOMAS: Bruce, I know you think I'm horrible. I'm tough. My father was tough. And his father before him. That's part of being a Wayne. If we're not tough, our good fortune would soften and corrupt us.

[As he leaves BRUCE's room.]

But I'm fair. That's something you'll always get from me. The world out there isn't always fair. One day you'll learn that.

* * *

[Back to present day, BRUCE is still being held captive by GIARDINO and SCARFACE]

GIARDINO: So what a surprise. The Wayne mountain of money is just as rotten as every single other thing in this godforsaken town. Gotham's golden boy is gonna be its next mayor, and he's got a whale of surprise coming on his first day. And then he's going to be ours.

Gotham's not going to be saved by some white knight, it's gonna get saved by people like me.

[yelling]

You can't tell me the older way wasn't better! Before this anarchy, before the wars, before the countless lives! When men like Falcone and Keller had the _strength_ to hold Gotham together! Why not go back to that?

BATMAN: Ask Fury.

GIARDINO: Oh, please.

Democracy only makes sense when you force it to.

You can talk about purity, clean government, true democracy all you want to. The choice in Gotham is what it's always been-chaos or order. And the people will always choose order.

That's what makes Wayne so _perfect_ , cause he's selling 'em both-and he does it _so_ well. They're flocking to him because he's what they want, the pleasant lie. That's what people really mean when they say they want to clean up Gotham. They want to fantasize about some dream world, and leave the reality to men like us.

Gotham's going to go back to the way it was always meant to be-a Swiss watch with a shiny coat of gold and me, inside, working the gears.

SCARFACE: I think he gets the picture.

GIARDINO: OK, I'm done. Do your thing.

BATMAN: Just one more question.

GIARDINO: By all means.

BATMAN: Why Scarface? Why one of the freaks?

GIARDINO: I adapt, it's what I do. If you can't beat 'em, join-

SCARFACE: Huh? I ain't one of the freaks. I'm a gangster.

GIARDINO: Right, of course, I meant-

SCARFACE: You think this is part of some Vegas show? You see me wearin' tights?

You think cause I'm made of wood, I'm one of them? I was fixin' points and crackin' legs since back you were in some fancy prep school. I ain't never geen to Arkham!

I've fought the clowns my whole life. I got scars to prove it. And you think I'm one'v em?!

GIARDINO: Oh God.

SCARFACE: The cornerstone of this racket is respect. Without it, jack squat. I must not have known who I was gettin' into gusiness with. But this is a mistake I can correct...right now.

GIARDINO: Batman, help!

SCARFACE: KILL 'IM!

[BATMAN breaks free from his constraints. SCARFACE's hoodlums line up to shoot GIARDINO, BATMAN uses a grappling hook to yank GIARDINO out of the way and saves his life.

[But then, the two men in Shreck's Palace masks show up with machine guns and blast the place. BATMAN manages to get away but GIARDINO is killed. SCARFACE gets away with one or two of his hoodlums, the rest are killed.]

[In the aftermath, BATMAN walks up to the wooden box and finds it empty.]

* * *

[BATMAN arrives back at the Batcave.]

ALFRED: Shreck called, he said he urgently needs to meet with you.

BATMAN: Oh, I bet he does.

* * *

[BRUCE shows up to SHRECK's office.]

BRUCE: Enough. Tell me what's going on.

SHRECK: Bruce, your blood is up. Sit down, please.

[BRUCE sits.]

SHRECK: I know your father got ripped from you early. But I never met mine, even once. I always wondered-

BRUCE: Cut the shit.

SHRECK: [produces a black-and-white photocopy of the Wayne photo we saw earlier.] I found something.

[BRUCE glances at it.]

SHRECK: You've seen it before. I figured as much.

BRUCE: We're going to bury this. Right?

SHRECK: No. I'm not.

I'm going to blast this photo everywhere I can. All over the Web. Papers, TV, every outlet I got. Everyone in Gotham will have this image burned into their memory.

[BRUCE tries to hand the photocopy back, SHRECK deflects.]

SHRECK: No keep that, it's yours.

I knew something like this would come up, if the campaign went long enough. The Waynes. So pure. So above-it-all.

I knew your family were hypocrites. And I knew the Cobblepots were crazy. I'm not a fixer or a kingmaker. I'm an excavator. Politics brings out the truth.

I fixed Firefly because I knew it would shake you out. Shake Gotham to the core.

BRUCE: You were behind Firefly?

SHRECK: I own the firetraps in Gotham! Fire inspections has been on my payroll since before I can even remember. It never traced back to me because I never made a cent. I just wanted to get to you.

BRUCE: You killed all of those people...just to stop me from becoming mayor?

SHRECK: Mayor? Hah! Mayors come and go. I am the light of this city, and I am its mean, twisted soul. It doesn't matter who's mayor.

I want to destroy you.

The Waynes. The Kanes. The Sionises. They all thought they were this city, but they were just the veneer. They weren't really from this city. They weren't _of_ it. Only I can _become_ Gotham. Our destinies are locked together in a death grip.

My mother was one of the City Secrets whores. She threw me out when I was 2. I grew up in that abomination they call an orphanage.

I was the sales clerk that bought the store. I bought the power plants. But I could never get a seat at the table. They could always smell that orphanage on me.

But now all of those elites are scrambling. The Owls are gone. The bosses are gone.

It's my time now. I am Gotham.

There was just one problem. You. Always you. The golden boy. Always in my way.

Your money will become toxic. Your friends will run for cover. That name, that magnificent name, will be tarnished. You'll finally be gone.

It's finally-

BRUCE: Hahahahaha

SHRECK: What!?

BRUCE: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

This is your grand master plan? Ruin my reputation?

Max. No one cares.

SHRECK: We'll see-

[In his pocket, BRUCE pushes a button on some little device.]

BRUCE: Fine, you win, I'm out. I already sent my withdrawal letter to the elections board.

But no one cares.

[BRUCE gets up, SHRECK stares.]

BRUCE: You just wasted a lot of people's time for no good reason.

And by the way, your gambling licenses are up for renewal. Might expect a fight on that.

[As he leaves, SHRECK pulls out the original photo from a file folder. Somehow, it's been all whited out.]

* * *

[BRUCE is back, wearing his bat-gear, in the Batcave.]

BATMAN: [speaking to someone on the phone] Believe it or not, it's good to hear from you. Thank you.

ALFRED: Was that Gordon?

BATMAN: McCaskill.

ALFRED: Can't imagine that was a pleasant conversation, Master Wayne.

BATMAN: That's Councilman Wayne.

ALFRED: [pauses] I see.

[BRUCE puts the THOMAS WAYNE photo on the screen.]

ALFRED: Is this the only copy?

BATMAN: We hacked into Shreck's system before the campaign began, it's not there. Believe it or not, he used an old-fashioned copier.

Our global facial recognition search turned up nothing. No photos with these particular people exist anywhere in the databases we have access to. Which is a bit more than Google.

As far as I know, this is the only image that exists of this meeting. Whatever it was.

ALFRED: There could still be more copies.

BATMAN: There could.

ALFRED: You ran for mayor so you could learn more about what's going on in this city. I'd say you've learned a lot.

BATMAN: But I'm not chasing ghosts down blind alleys in Gotham. It's all I'd ever do.

ALFRED: Yes, sir.

BATMAN: What do you want? For me to give the money away? That's what I've been trying to do.

ALFRED: Have you considered me? Your father's money has filled my belly for nearly my entire life. I might want to know.

BATMAN: Do you?

Or did you? Did you see anything?

ALFRED: [silence]

BATMAN: You're the one always telling me to let the past go.

That photo could mean anything. And in the end, it means nothing.

It doesn't change the man we both knew. And it doesn't change my mission. My dad taught me ideals, they're what matters. Even if they're just hopes.

Batman was never pure. Batman is Gotham. All of it.

ALFRED: Very well, sir. Is there anything else you need?

BATMAN: No, thank you Alfred.

[As BATMAN sits at his Batcave screen, we have an internal monologue for the first time in this story.]

My father-Thomas Wayne-was a good man. A fair man.

He taught me many things. But his most important lesson, the day he died

[BATMAN deletes the photo-the Batcave screen shows "FILE DELETED" across black. The light computer glow creates a dark silhouette around BATMAN's figure.]

He taught me this world only makes sense when you force it to.

The End.


End file.
